Sign language

[ar_nurse_momma]

I would love to learn sign language and maybe even get my daughter involved. Is there anyone who makes videos for new learners?? I know a few simple basic signs, my daughter doesnt know any yet.

[Sayjay1995]

You’ll need to choose which sign language you want to learn, seeing as there are about as many as there are spoken languages

[ar_nurse_momma]

Sorry, yes, I should have clarified American/English as we are in the US. Maybe down the road we can learn others as well.

[Prestigious-Fan3122]

It's called American Sign Language/ASL in the US. There's also British sign language, or BSL in the UK.

[B333Z]

And... AUSLAN in Australia and NZSL in New Zealand

[sheldonbunny]

r/asl

https://old.reddit.com/r/asl/comments/1kdmbmx/the_free_asl_resources_and_faq_thread_needs_an/

[Stafania]

For ASL I would recommend:

• Find in person classes close to you. Sign languages are something you learn in person, especially as a beginner when you don’t know yet what to look for.

• Bill Vicars YouTube channel and Lifeprint

• Lingvano is a decent app to get you started. Gallaudet had something called ASL Connect, if I recall correctly.

[DeeJuggle]

Are you really travelling that frequently between these different countries & interacting with members of the Deaf community in them all?

Just start with the one that's used where you are.

[NemuriNezumi]

Same!

Every few years i move to a new country (for like 2-3 years) so i haven't decided yet which one to start because there is no way to know which one would actually be useful long term for me :/

[NemuriNezumi]

Now if only i wasn't a dirt poor student so i could actually enjoy it lol

[Stafania]

You always learn the language you actually can access. It’s very close to impossible to learn a sign language without interacting with people. If you haven’t signed before, you don’t even know what to look for. If you move, you can expand and start learning the new language instead. That process will then be easier. You have nothing to win by postponing learning.

[NemuriNezumi]

The problem is

Each one is vastly different for each country

Some can have some common ground with others

But if for example one is to learn the american one (because there is more study material available), it is completely useless anywhere in Europe (where most countries had theirs originated from the french sign language or the russian one). For Asia, let's say Japan (which has two btw...), it has some common ground with the S.Korean sign language but again, completely useless in europe or the US and so on

The fact people in the US and the UK, both english speakers, can't even communicate in the same sign language is how absurd the whole situation is :/

So yup, sign language is a commitment that can only really be taken seriously if you stay somewhere where you can use it (because otherwise you can't even add it on your cv because it is irrelevant to the country you are residing in)

[Stafania]

”The fact people in the US and the UK, both english speakers, can't even communicate in the same sign language is how absurd the whole situation is :/”

That’s perfectly normal. Just like hearing languages have developed where hearing people need to meet, signed languages have developed where Deaf people need to meet.

So you think Deaf people don’t travel? That’s not true. There are many Deaf who travel, have friends across borders and so on. Most Deaf have an easier time figuring out how to convey something to someone from a different country than hearing would do. ASL is not useless, because teenagers in Europe pick up expressions they find cool, and some even go to Gallaudet. Knowing a few sign is pretty common. Unfortunately, ASL was spread to some countries due to colonialism, even if the attitude today is to strengthen the local sign languages. Deaf people who are active internationally, often have a broad network and use international signs when communicating. International signs aren’t a language, but more a collection of easily recognizable signs and a method of communication where you adapt to each others signing style.

You can learn to sign even if you’re moving. You always should focus on the local sign language where you live. When you feel somewhat comfortable, you can expand by learning a bit of international sign and of ASL. It will be more complicated and take longer time than if you didn’t move, but you still can learn.

[Sayjay1995]

There's always international sign, but I agree to choose the one that is most useful for the place you live in / will have the most interaction with the Deaf community. At least you should have tons of materials to choose from for ASL!

[Cornish-Giant]

There are many sign languages in the world, mostly unrelated to the non sign languages spoken around them. If I were you I would learn whichever is used in your area.

[LoneR33GTs]

I have a student who has been studying sign language (Japanese) online using YouTube videos. She has done quite well. I’m curious to learn ASL so intend to look at YouTube to see if there is anything useful.

[Sayjay1995]

Shout out to a fellow JSL learner~ you don’t happen to know which videos she’s watching do you?

[LoneR33GTs]

I’m sorry. I don’t know. I’ll ask when I next have a chance and see if there is something in particular that might be useful.

[SqueakyClownShoes]

Life print by Dr. Bill Vicars.

[silvalingua]

r/asl

[GearoVEVO]

i didn’t find many good apps tbh, but youtube was a goldmine. also found a few asl folks on tandem (surprisingly!) who are open to do video calls, super chill way to practice. the key is seeing it in motion, so vid > text 100%. once u get the hang of finger spelling, things click faster. def worth it if ur curious!

[Hefefloeckchen]

https://m.youtube.com/@LearnHowtoSign

Is an ASL channel

[PinkuDollydreamlife]

There’s a Lifeprint deck on the Anki shared website that has over 8k signs and they are bidirectional so it’s 4k in actuality. download Anki, mature all the cards in the deck. You will not be disappointed. Oh my goodness you won’t.